Call for protector to probe Zuma claims

DA LEADER Mmusi Maimane has called for a public protector investigation into claims President Jacob Zuma had received a R1 million salary from Durban businessman Roy Moodley.

Maimane visited the Union Buildings in Pretoria yesterday to view Zuma’s declarations of interest dating back to 2009.

“I can today confirm that President Jacob Zuma did not declare any salary earned in the 2009-10 financial year in the register of his financial interests. The only mention in the register of Mr Roy Moodley was the president’s use of Mr Moodley’s Durban beachfront property in 2016,” Maimane said after viewing the declaration.

In Jacques Pauw’s book, The President’s Keepers, he claims Zuma was on the payroll of a security company, Royal Security, owned by Moodley, and was paid R1m a month for a period after becoming president.

The president is required by the Executive Ethics Code to disclose the particulars of all his financial interests once a year. Criminal charges have been laid against Pauw, accusing him of possessing classified information.

The Presidency had issued a statement saying the president had declared to the relevant authorities all income received and “allegations contained in the reports are misleading and clearly part of the ongoing smear campaigns”.

Opposition parties have called on Pauw to provide authorities with proof Zuma re- ceived a salary from Moodley.

UDM leader Bantu Holomisa warned that if no proof was submitted, the matter would fizzle out.

“Zuma denied being paid by Moodley. He (Zuma) should clear himself by encouraging anyone who has proof of his wrongdoing to go and hand it in,” Holomisa said.

The IFP’s Narend Singh said if Pauw or anybody could produce tangible evidence the allegations were true, the party would write to the Speaker and ask that Zuma be held in contempt of Parliament for misleading the House.

Cope leader Mosioua Lekota said the party supported the DA’s call to gain access to Royal Security’s employment records for 2009 and a public protector investigation.